The first short takes of Spring 2021
Sending healing thoughts and strength to Andy Chanley, music director and afternoon drive host at 88.5 FM (KCSN / KSBR). He recently shared an update about his health with his friends and listeners:
Hey, friends. I have something to share. Yesterday, I was diagnosed with cancer. Stage II Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) with Germinal Center Subtype, to be specific. It’s very aggressive, but also very treatable — and I’m gonna treat the shit out of it. Six three-week cycles of a chemotherapy regimen they call R-CHOP begin Monday, along with anything else my excellent oncologist from UCLA comes up with. You have no idea how eager I am to start — and win — this fight.
It wasn’t totally unexpected that KLOS would eventually stop offering former sister station KABC on their HD2 signal, as the former is now owned by Meruelo Media while the latter remains a Cumulus property. What’s new is KLOS, “Southern California’s Rock Station” has created KLOS2 on their HD2 channel, billed as “Southern California’s Talk Station.” Programmed by Frank Kramer, half of the KLOS morning duo with Heidi Hamilton, KLOS2 is currently running the best of Heidi and Frank 24 hours a day.
Kramer says, “The 24-hour loop is just phase one. In the coming months, my team and I will be adding original programming, special features and even more surprises. KLOS2 will ultimately become a full-fledged talk radio station, courting new advertisers and personalities. I appreciate Meruelo Media for trusting my vision to double-down on personality-driven radio, and I can’t wait to get started.”
We previously reported the passing of Steve Grad, former KNX sports anchor. Many remembered his kindness, his encouragement, and his sense of humor. Chuck Rowe, who did traffic for KNX said “I loved working with Steve and some of the great talks we had. He was great at what he did and was always a true gentleman.” Some friends of the Grad family are asking for donations to help defray funeral costs. You can make your contribution here.
We’ve referenced the perseverance of KIIS-FM, the station offering contemporary hits for at least three (four?) decades. The station did have some competitors, one that was memorable was “Hitradio 93” KKHR. Formerly the mellow KNX-FM, the new top 40 outlet debuted with Todd Parker playing Michael Jackson’s “Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’.” You can read more about the station at the marvelous website, socalradiohistory.com, here’s the link to the KKHR story. After the station debuted, I paid a visit to my old stomping grounds in Sacramento. Imagine my surprise when they had the same sound package declaring “Hitradio 106 KWOD!!” The story about KWOD and its owner, Ed Stoltz, is worth an entire column – he once owned the former frequency of KROQ-AM but it never aired under his ownership.
Wait, so Todd Parker and Jackson Armstrong were the same person? Are they sure about that? It doesn't say that on LAradio.com...
ReplyDeleteAs a teen, I preferred KKHR to KIIS (I won a KKHR t-shirt from them, as well as tickets to a concert I wasn't able to attend.) "Dancin' Mark Hanson" is the guy who mentioned his salary on-air once (six figures); don't know if he was joking or not, but soon afterward I started hearing about the salaries of Rick Dees, Mark & Brian, etc., and thought, "Wow, one CAN make money doing this!" (I, personally, still haven't made six figures in one year -- HA! -- but I still enjoy doing it.) And then there was the ambiguous Slim One; couldn't tell if it was a male or female jock. Somebody once called Mark Hanson to ask him and he said, "She's a WOOOOOMAAAANNNN!" Amazing the things we remember all these years later...
Prayin' for Andy!
I was fairly certain it was Todd Parker who debuted the format, and that agrees with socalradiohistory.com. When he moved to weekends, Jackson Armstrong took over afternoon drive. So we're referring to two different individuals. "The Slim One" was the nom de plume of Leslie Nelson, she arrived at KKHR via WLS Chicago and KFRC San Francisco.
DeleteThat makes sense about Todd and Jackson. I guess I was just confused by what SoCalRadioHistory wrote: "KKHR was launched in late August, 1983, with Todd Parker at the mic, using the on-air name Jackson Armstrong, a.k.a. The Gorilla." And now that I think about it, it may have been Todd, not Mark, who mentioned his salary on-air.
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